In this month's edition...
Clinks has launched its 2023 State of the sector survey. This is your chance to tell us about the challenges your organisation has faced over the last year and help us to influence key decision-makers on your behalf while ensuring that our support meets the needs of the sector. We need up-to-date evidence to do this effectively, and that is why we are asking you to complete the survey.
Your input is needed to understand the current landscape of the criminal justice voluntary sector, collect the robust evidence we need to influence change, take a close look at the financial sustainability of the sector, and to celebrate its work. Read our blog by Rachel Tynan, Influence and Policy Manager, to find out more about how we use your responses and why your voice matters.
You can complete the State of the sector survey online. We will ask you about your organisation’s criminal justice work, including the clients you work with, commissioning, referrals, staffing, and volunteers. Please have numbers ready from the 2022/23 financial year. You can find out more about the State of the sector project by visiting https://linktr.ee/clinksstateofthesector. Complete the survey by Monday 7 August.
On 27 June, Clinks held the first meeting of its Older People in the Criminal Justice System (OPIC) network, bringing together voluntary and statutory organisations and practitioners, as well as academics, who provide services for and/or advocate for older people (over 50) in the justice system. The group heard from experts and discussed priorities. A subgroup of the network focusing on the Ministry of Justice’s forthcoming Ageing Population Strategy subsequently met with the Ministry of Justice to discuss its plans for the strategy. These are the first of a series of activities taking place over the next 12 months. If you would like more information or to join the OPIC network, please contact the network coordinator Simon Scott at simon@bccme.co.uk or fill out this form to get your priorities on the network's agenda.
This recent Clinks blog looks at the evidence for social prescribing and the approach being taken to support its growth across prisons and probation. Social prescribing is commonly used in healthcare settings, but can it be effective across criminal justice? Clinks is keen to identify examples of promising practice within the criminal justice system which we can promote to support the development and growth of social prescribing. If you provide a non-clinical service, activity, or intervention that supports people’s physical, mental, or emotional health, please help us to build our evidence base by sharing your experience, including any challenges, successes, or insights by getting in touch with the Policy team before 31 July.
Offenders (Day of Release from Detention) Act 2023
Royal Assent has now been given to this legislation, which will reduce the number of people being released from prison on a Friday or the day before a bank holiday, by giving prison governors discretion to release them one or two days earlier. This will allow people in prison more time to access key services before the weekend. Clinks welcomes this change, since it should help people leaving prison access vital services, including those delivered by voluntary organisations, during their first days in the community. Read our statement from Clinks’ CEO, Anne Fox
New initiative for specialist drug and alcohol treatment for those on community orders
The Ministry of Justice has launched an “Intensive Supervision Courts” pilot. Under this initiative, individuals convicted of low-level offenses will be sentenced to a community order. As part of this order, they will have access to specialized drug and alcohol treatment aimed at reducing reoffending. Additionally, they will receive support in areas such as education, employment, and housing. The judge will also require them to attend regular review meetings to ensure compliance with the order's requirements. Failure to engage, persistent substance misuse, or refusal to attend follow-up meetings may result in increased drug testing or a longer period of custody. Judges will have the authority to recognize good progress by granting privileges such as relaxing conditions. Read more here
Proposed amendments to the Health and Protection Notification Regulations
The Department of Health and Social Care have announced a 12-week public consultation on proposed amendments to the Health Protection Notification Regulations 2010 (HPNR). The HMNR supports the swift responding to suspected cases of infectious disease that could impact on public health. The regulations hold two core functions: firstly, placing a statutory duty on registered medical practitioners in England to notify the proper officer if they treat a patient that they know, or suspect, have a specific infectious disease; and secondly, a statutory duty on all diagnostic laboratories that test human samples to report the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) when they detect an organism that could lead to the development of a specific infectious disease. The government is seeking views from stakeholders on three proposals to update regulations. Find further information on how to respond here
Webinars on new funding to support Integrated Care Systems and voluntary sector partners
NHS England’s Innovation, Research and Life Sciences team are holding three webinars [27 July, 10:00 - 11:00], [28 July 11:00 - 12:00], or [7 August, 13:00 - 14:00], to discuss their new funding programme to support Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) and the voluntary sector and research partners to increase diversity in research participation. The programme aims to support ICSs to work with local partners to deliver approaches that develop local multi-stakeholder research engagement networks, engage with local communities to take part in research, and develop greater diversity of local partnership. ICS partnerships will be awarded up to £100,000 each to develop locally determined approaches to deliver these ambitions. Find out more information (including how to apply) about this funding opportunity by joining one of the webinars.
Please contact england.research@nhs.net if you have any queries or would like to be directed to local partners.
Youth Diversion and SEND
The Centre for Justice Innovation is holding an online seminar [31 July 14:00 – 15:00, online, free] to launch the literature review of their new project “Exploring the Responsiveness of Youth Diversion to Children and People with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)”. Attendees will hear from Dunston Patterson, Youth Justice Oversight Manager at the Youth Justice Board, and Carmen Robin-D’Cruz, Senior Research Officer at The Centre, on the findings of the literature review. This will be followed by a Q&A session, together with a call for interested practitioners to take part in the research. Sign up here or contact Carmen for more information at cdcruz@justiceinnovation.org
Prison facts
The Summer 2023 edition of the Prison Reform Trust’s Bromley Briefings has been published. The report outlines a number of concerning figures, including a spotlight on the rising number of people in prison. In relation to mental health, 1,057 people were transferred from prison to a secure hospital in 2022, the second highest number since records began, and more than two thirds (67%) of people in prison reported having mental health problems, with less than a third (32%) saying it was easy to see a mental health worker. Inspectorates also found that around half of those entering prison have some form of neurodivergent condition which impacts their ability to engage, much higher than in the outside community (15-20%). More than one in four people (27%) in prison who took an initial assessment had a learning difficulty or disability, despite the Offender Management System (OASys) only recording 1% of prisoners as having a learning disability. Read the full fact file here
Inclusive Social Prescribing: Learning from engagement with grass roots VCSE organisations
Faith Action, a member of the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance, has published a new report offering an approach to inclusive social prescribing, and the challenges that Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) organisations and the health system face in making this happen. Drawing on insights from 25 VCFSE colleagues and representatives of social prescribing schemes, the report highlights recommendations that other organisations, social prescribing commissioners, and health system partners can take to make social prescribing more inclusive, including creating visible communication pathways for VCFSE organisations and adopting “community champions” models to raise awareness of social prescribing within communities. Read the report here
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Annual Report
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, has published the annual report for 2022-23, expressing concerns about the quality of healthcare in certain prisons. These concerns stem from understaffing issues and an excessive reliance on agency workers, resulting in a decline in the quality of services provided. Even in prisons with a more stable staff group, there were challenges in filling specialist positions, particularly psychologists and pharmacists. Inspections revealed unmet needs across many facilities, including deficiencies in medicine management, governance, and staffing levels. Numerous patients requiring mental health care experienced significant delays or were unable to access specific treatments, such as psychologically based therapies. This lack of access sometimes forced a heavy reliance on pharmacological treatments. Mental health training for prison officers remained disjointed, with some prisons lacking any such training at all. Read the annual report here
Dismantling Disadvantage
In partnership with Changing Lives, Agenda Alliance have published a report “Dismantling Disadvantage: Levelling up public services for women with multiple unmet needs”. The report highlights the experiences of women with multiple unmet needs accessing public services in the North East, and how these services can be improved. The report shows that the region has the highest poverty rate in England with a significant gendered impact. Women living in the North East are more likely to live shorter lives, to spend a larger proportion of time living in poor health, and to die prematurely from preventable diseases. The women surveyed reported experiences of fragmented and siloed service provision, meaning they frequently juggling multiple expectations from statutory services, including criminal justice services, drug and alcohol recovery services, social care, mental health, homelessness, domestic and sexual abuse, and healthcare systems. Read the report here
Going Further Together: The role of voluntary organisations in neighbourhood health ecosystems
Locality has published a report on the crucial role of voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations in neighbourhood health ecosystems. It seeks to understand the journey that VCSE organisations and health partners have been on, and how the new Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) can better create opportunities to address health inequalities, improve healthcare, and support integrated delivery. The research highlights factors of success in involving VCSE organisations in the delivery of health services, as well as raises recommendations for the health system to embed this learning in neighbourhoods. In relation to the for local VCSE organisations to improving their partnership working, the report recommends that organisations communicate the value offered to health partners, invest in developing relationships with PNC colleagues, as well as identifying opportunities to contribute to integrated neighbourhood teams and personalised care. Read the report here
Evaluation of the Social Workers for Mothers in Prison pilot project
Cardiff University has published an independent evaluation of the Prison Advice and Care Trust’s pilot project to employ prison-based social workers in two women's prisons: HMP Send and HMP Eastwood Park. The evaluation findings highlight the positive impact of these roles, including their contribution to addressing self-harm, reducing reoffending, and benefiting the children of the mothers they support. The study reveals that the roles facilitate more frequent and positive contact between mothers and their children, advocate for mothers' rights, and grant them greater autonomy in decisions concerning their children. Furthermore, these roles instil hope in women, encouraging a positive outlook and playing a vital role in managing self-harm while reducing the risk of suicide. Additionally, they enhance the expertise of other prison staff by introducing expert knowledge of safeguarding and social services processes. Read the full report here
Tacking Double Disadvantage Action Plan Progress Report
The Double Disadvantage partnership (which includes Hibiscus, Khidmat Centres, Agenda Alliance, Zahid Mubarek Trust, Criminal Justice Alliance, and Women in Prison) aims to achieve equal treatment and outcomes for racially minoritised women in contact with the criminal justice system. They have published a progress report one year on after making recommendations in their 10-point Tacking Double Disadvantage Action Plan. The report indicates that there are ongoing challenges remaining, however there has been in improvement in the areas of staff training, language and cultural competency, data, diversion and reducing imprisonment. It calls on senior leaders to give higher priority to ending intersectional discrimination and inequality for racially minoritised and migrant women, fostering a strategic, cross-government approach to achieve cultural and systems change. This work must centre the expertise of women with lived experience and voluntary and specialist sector organisations, supported by sustainable and accessible funding. Read the progress report here
Post-traumatic stress disorder in former prison officers
The latest edition of the Prison Service Journal includes an article on the experience of post-traumatic stress disorder in former prison officers. The study is based on interviews with 12 former prison officers and examines the physical and mental health consequences of the role which have likely links to increased staff turnover. High stress levels, burnout, and constant threat of violence leading to hypervigilance and exposure to potentially traumatising events such as self-harm can all contribute to developing PTSD symptoms. Participants shared accounts of inadequate support from management, challenges in accessing treatment, insufficient aftercare, and a prison culture that fosters a “facade of capability”. Read the article here
Commission Covid-19, Ableism and Racism
The Commission on Covid-19, Ableism and Racism, established by the Voluntary Organisations Disability Group (VODG) in April 2022, have published a final report. The findings show that government public health information during the pandemic was hard for these communities to understand, and the government did not meaningfully engage with them. Recommendations to take forward include; incorporating British Sign Language interpretation and subtitles as a minimum for all public health broadcasts; contracting Black, Asian and minority ethnic disabled people’s organisations to advise on diverse language use; and that the Department of Health and Social Care commission a review of a review of eligibility, access and delivery of social care for disabled Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, including the availability of specialist services. Read the full report here
Improving healthcare for people under probation supervision
The University of Lincoln, in collaboration with Revolving Doors, has published new research aimed at enhancing healthcare for individuals on probation. The research focuses on improving the measurement, understanding, and documentation of their health and social care requirements, as well as developing a set of quality indicators for healthcare enhancement. The research team developed these indicators through consultations with professionals in the criminal justice and health sectors, individuals with personal experience of probation supervision, and literature reviews of existing standards. The 31 indicators prioritise areas such as screening and assessment, GP registration, routine evaluation of suicide risk, collaborative efforts between criminal justice and health services, needs-based care, accessible services, a person-centered approach, and the involvement of individuals with lived experience. See the full project here
The National Expert Citizen Group’s blueprint for improved dual diagnosis support
Revolving Doors has released a blog highlighting the perspectives of their National Expert Citizens Group (NECG), a representative body for individuals experiencing multiple disadvantage The blog summarises the findings and recommendations put forth by the NECG regarding dual diagnosis, a condition that can contribute to involvement with the criminal justice system, particularly when left unaddressed. It sheds light on the efforts made by group members to raise awareness about the obstacles faced by individuals when seeking services, emphasising issues such as clinical diagnosis, inflexible systems, and stringent eligibility criteria. Read the blog here
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